US President Donald Trump has said there is a "good possibility" of a meeting with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, after what he described as "very good talks" between his envoy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked at the White House whether the leaders had agreed to a summit, Trump said there was a "very good prospect," but did not provide further details.
The Kremlin released a vague statement about the meeting between Putin and Steve Witkoff, with a foreign policy adviser saying the parties had exchanged "signals" as part of "constructive" talks in Moscow.
This meeting took place a few days before a deadline set by Trump for Russia to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine or face new sanctions.
Trump's comments in the Oval Office on Wednesday came after he announced on his Truth Social platform that he had briefed some of America's European allies after the talks.
"Everyone agrees that this war must end, and we will work on that in the days and weeks ahead," Trump wrote.
The White House also told the BBC that Russia had expressed a desire to meet the US president, and that Trump was "open to a meeting with both presidents, Putin and Zelensky."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, confirmed that he had spoken to Trump about Witkoff's visit, with several European leaders also on the call. Zelensky has warned that Russia will only take serious steps toward peace when it runs out of money. Trump has said that Russia could face tough sanctions or second-round sanctions on countries that continue to trade with it if Moscow does not take steps to end the war.
Wednesday's meeting between Putin and Witkoff took place peacefully, despite Trump's growing frustration with the lack of progress in negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.
Shortly after Witkoff left Moscow, the White House announced that Trump had signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on India for purchases of Russian oil. The tariff will take effect on August 27.
The US president has accused India of not caring "how many people are being killed in Ukraine by the Russian war machine".
Expectations for a deal by Friday remain low, as Russia has continued large-scale airstrikes on Ukraine despite Trump's threats of sanctions.
Before taking office in January, Trump said he could end the war in Ukraine in a day. However, the conflict continues and his rhetoric toward Moscow has hardened.
"We thought a few times that we had it solved, and then President Putin comes out and starts launching missiles at some city like Kiev and kills a lot of people in some nursing home or I don't know where," he said last month.
Three rounds of talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul have failed to bring progress towards ending the war, which has now entered its fourth year after Moscow's full occupation of Ukraine.
The military and political conditions set by the Kremlin for peace remain unacceptable to Kiev and its Western allies. The Kremlin has also repeatedly rejected Kiev's requests for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
Meanwhile, the US administration on Tuesday approved additional arms sales worth $200 million to Ukraine, following a phone conversation between Zelensky and Trump, during which defense cooperation and drone production were also discussed.
Ukraine has used drones to strike Russian refineries and energy infrastructure, while Moscow has focused airstrikes on Ukrainian cities.
The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that the death toll from an attack last week in the city has risen to 32, after one man died from his wounds. The attack was one of the deadliest in Kyiv since the start of the occupation.
Ukrainian authorities reported on Wednesday that a Russian attack on a holiday camp in the central Zaporizhzhia region killed two people and wounded 12 others.
"There is no military sense in this attack. It is just cruelty to scare people," Zelensky said.
